The Witcher TV casting suggests intriguing book character will appear on screen
They're in the Aardback.
We know Ciri, Geralt's adopted ward, will play a large role in Netflix's The Witcher series when it premieres later this month. Now, a new casting report suggests an unexpected book plotline connected to her may be coming to the screen.
Warning, there may be spoilers ahead!
A new report has revealed an actor cast in the role of False Ciri.
Yes, the character's actual name is False Ciri. The report comes from dedicated Witcher series site Redanian Intelligence, which previously revealed Counterpart actor Viola Prettejohn was cast in the Netflix series back in October.
Redanian Intelligence has now revealed Prettejohn has listed her role as False Ciri through her profile on Spotlight, a dedicated portfolio hub for actors.
False Ciri never appeared in CD Projekt's The Witcher games, but she featured in the Time of Contempt novel by Andrzej Sapkowski. Originally an orphan from Cintra, False Ciri was caught up in a scheme that saw her presented to the Emperor of Niflgaard by the evil mage Vilgefortz as a decoy for his true daughter. Meanwhile, the real Ciri could be used for nefarious world-ending plans.
Viola Prettejohn being revealed to portray the character in Netflix's series certainly points to this plotline from Time of Contempt featuring in the show. It should be noted Redanian Intelligence has a track record of using the Spotlight hub multiple times for casting details for the Witcher series, including British actor Dominic Creasey playing a Nilfgaardian Lord by the name of Peregrine in the series.
False Ciri might have been left out of the Witcher games, but her name did surface in leaked documents in 2014, prior to the launch of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2015. The character was allegedly to appear on the Skellige Isles, and go by the name "Becca". This never materialised, and the only reference to False Ciri in the game trilogy was through a document in The Witcher 2, where a Nilfgaardian emissary refers to "Emhyr's Consort".
The Witcher premieres on Netflix on 20th December, launching all eight episodes at once. There are certainly some clues to be found in the recently revealed titles of all the episodes, including Geralt's Butcher of Blaviken's origins.